FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 24, 2020

 Deer Management Grant Funding

The District of Oak Bay is pleased to announce that it has received a grant of $42,366 from the Provincial Urban Deer Cost-Share Program to support the implementation of the next phase of the Oak Bay deer management strategy.

This grant enables the District of Oak Bay to continue its partnership with the Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society (UWSS) to deliver research-informed urban deer immuno-contraception. Work in 2020 will include re-marking the control group, re-boostering does vaccinated in 2019, administering further primary vaccinations and boosters and collecting and further analyzing data.

“We are pleased to continue our partnership with the Province and the UWSS to further advance solutions to reduce and manage the urban deer population,” said Mayor Kevin Murdoch.

The District of Oak Bay, the UWSS and the Province have participated in the Provincial Urban Deer Cost-Share Program since 2016.

The District of Oak Bay gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.

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For media inquiries, please call:
Kevin Murdoch, Mayor
District of Oak Bay
250-896-4983
mayor@oakbay.ca

Backgrounder: Oak Bay Urban Deer Management

In 2016, the Oak Bay Council, along with Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society signed onto the provincial urban deer cost-share research program.

2016-2018

• The first phase consisted of public education, data collection and analysis with the goal of better understanding population numbers, deer ecology and migration patterns of the deer population.
• Phase one fitted a control group of 20 does with GPS collars.

2019

• Phase two, undertaken in Fall 2019, consisted of administering immuno-contraception to Oak Bay deer.
• In phase two, 60 does were administered immuno-contraceptive. The deer who received immuno-contraception were marked with coloured tags in both ears and a coloured collar to allow for individual identification. The 20 deer in the control group did not receive immuno-contraception.
• During phase two, over 650 Oak Bay property owners granted property access to the UWSS to administer immuno-contraceptive on their property.

2020

• The third phase will consist of re-marking the control group and re-boostering deer vaccinated in 2019 as well as administering further primary vaccinations and boosters and collecting and further analyzing data to measure the efficiency of the contraception and impacts of the program on deer population.

About immuno-contraception

• Immuno-contraception (IC) is non-lethal and allows the deer population to be gradually reduced in a stable and sustainable way. 
• Immuno-contraception involves giving does several doses of contraception so that they do not conceive.

About the Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society
The UWSS is a non-profit society that works with independent, expert wildlife scientists and veterinarians to focus on a scientific and evidence-based approach to deer population management.